Wire-annealing furnace



.Patented ...lune i9,

EGB/REST W.` 0.? JACKSN" HEIGHTS, NEW YORK, ASSIQNR T0. SURFAGE COMBUSTON COMPANYf-FN'EW YRK, 1U.' Y., A GORFJRTlDT OF NEW YORK.

'Winn-ammettere annuncia.

nppncauon and Maren e, ieaa serial no. saone.

This invention relates to improvements in annealing furnaces. and more particularly to furnaces adapted for the annealing of wire.

` whereby to reduce to a inininiuni the'wastage of furnace heat in heating the `conveyer Ineclianisin. y

Another object'of the invention is to provide an annealing furnace which shall be provided with preheating, heating and cooling chambers the door and side walls of` the preheating and heatingl chambers being spaced from the CorrespendingY Vfloor and walls vof the furnace structure andV the -spaces between. the walls being provided with passes through which the products of combustion generated in the combustion chamber below the 4floor of the vheating chamber may flow on their way to the stack, the arrangement being such that the maximuin amount of heat is extracted from the hot gases as they How from the combustion chamber on their way to the stack.

' The above and other objects of the ii1 vention will more fully appear, from the detailed description taken in connection with the-accompanying drawing forming part of this specification. Referring to' the drawings Fig. l is aA longitudinal vertical sectie through the improvedv annealing furnace,

parts being broken away to` more fully illus-l trate the construction, the construction of the conveyer system being shown n'iore or less diagraininatically.

` Fig. 2 'is a. ,verticall transverse sectiontaken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1 and showingi among other things, the manner of inserting the coils of wire into the furnace, a portion of the carriage wallon which;th`e wire is adapted to be supported being broken away'- for clarity of illustration.

Fig. 3 1s a vertical transverse section italien on 'line 3--3 of Fig.

llt is an 'object ofthe invention tov provide l the manner in which a coil of wire is carried through thetfurnace. f Fig. el is a fragmentary side elevation of a portion ofthe endless conveyor and the position assumed by the coil carrier as it travels along the'top ofthe, furnace prior to Q being brought into position for passage' through the furnace. y In the. drawings the annealing furnace is shown as comprising three sections or chambers, namely, a preheating sectiongA, a heating section B and a cooling section C.. The roof 1Q of the furnace is shown as provided with a longitudinally extending slot 12 running the entire length ofthe furnace, this slo't being aligned with a vertically extending slot 14 in the end wall 16 at the entrance end of the furnace. rllie entry of work into the furnace is eifected through an upright passage '18 in one of the side walls of the furnace adjacent the end wall 16. lThe work to be annealed,- shown as in the form of wire coils 20, is entered into the furnaceon a carriage 22 which is preferably constructed' with wheels 24 adapted torun A on laterally extending tracks 26. The work' 1 and showing-M abutment 28 may be provided thereon. The l bach 'plate of the carriage against which the coil'is adapted to lean is provided with a eut-out or slot 30 extending downwardly from its upper edge to permit thecarriers to pass therethrough and piclr up the coils as will presently appear. The carriage may be provided with a peripheral liangeBQ to* liniit the entrance of the 'carriage into'the furnace and to forin a seal around the passage 18 in the side-wall through which the carriage enters the'furnace.

rllhe means for picking up the coil of wire 20 onits carriage and transporting it'through thev furnace!v will now vloe explained. The y transport-ing ineens' preferably comprises an endless conveyer 34 of any approved Construction as, for example, 'the forin illustrated in Fig. 4, this conveyer being provided' with transversely extending arms 86 to which are pivoted hooked 'carriers 88, the conveyer passing over pulleys Ll() arranged at the erivms tremeends of the furnace. Both the upper 'and lower runs of the endless'conveyer are vpreferably arranged to run in tracks 42 as clearly indicated in 2 and 3. the upper run of the track being omitted in Fig. 1. The lower run of the track 42 is preferably so 'constructed as to provide inwardly turned flanges 44 on which the endless carrier may be supported in any approved manner as by mea-nsof rollers shown morev or less diagram- -matically '1n Figs. 2 and 3. Any suitable means may be employedlfor imparting movement to the conveyer.

l As shown in the drawings the conveyer arms 36am of a length to exten-d through. .the slot 12 in the roof of the furnace and the hooked carriers 88 are of a length to eXtend below the upper loop ofthe coils of wire just Y 16 of thepreheating chamber A. After the whereby topick off the coils from the wire supporting'carriage 22, it being understood that the carriers 38 pass through the slot 3Q in the wall of the carirage land also that they pass through the s lot 14 in the end wall carriers in any suitable manner and allowed 50 below the-chute.

to descend through a chute 46 for depositon a truck 48 supported on an inclined track The truck 48 is controlled as by an endless chain 52 in such a. manner that it may be. appropriately positioned below the chute 46 to receive the coils of wire passing therefrom and to permit the truck to be removed when 'the same has been lill-ed; The discharge end oft-he chute is preferably positioned below the level of the floor of thecooling chamber so as to constitute an air-still against the entry of cold air.

The top of the chute is provided with a slot 54 to permit thev passage of the' conveyer arms 36 and the carriers 38 therethrough after the coil has been dislodged fromthe carrier. The means for disloding-thecoils of wire from their carriers has been shown las comprising an L-shaped arm or trip 56 secured-in a fixed position in the path of the carriers 88-in a manner to permit each carrier to wipe the trip and swing into the position shown in dotted lines in f1 with the result that the coil of wire on the carrier is dislodged from the hooked end thereof. In

' order to enable the carrier to pass the trip 56 after engagement therewith the carrier is provided with al lateral U-shapedv bend 60, the laterally extending portion of the trip passing through the. bend when the carrierl has swung back the required distance as will be readily understood.

"floor :being indicated b As shown this seal comprises U-shaped chan 7o nels on cach side of the slot and an inverted U-shaped channel movable, with the endless carrier, the side flanges' of the inverted channel beingl adapted to extend into the channels on either side of the slotkas will be readily understood.

The furnace proper is preferablvof a construction now to be described. The floor of y both the preheating and heating chambers A and'B respectively is preferably of relatively 80 thin refractory, such as carborundum, this numeral 64. The side walls 66 Lof said c ambers are .preferably also formed of relatively thin carborundum. Floor'64 is arranged in spacedle- 85 lation with respect to the bottom or floor 68 of the furnace construction and the side walls 66 are also arranged in s aced relation with respect to the correspon ing side wall` 70 of the furnace. An upright partition wall 7 2 between the chamber walls 66 and the furnace walls 70 separates the two chambers A and B from one another. The cooling chamber C is separated from the heating chamber A by means of a suitable partition 7 4. A suitable closure 7 6 at the entrance end of the preheating chamber closes off the` space between the chamberand furnace walls from the interior of the furnace.

The space below the oor of'the heating chamber constitutes the combustion chamber, this comlmstion 'chamber being generally indicated at T8 (Fig. 3). This combusy tion chamber is arranged and adapted for the burning of liquid-fuel preferably gas, the fuel being entered into the combustion cham- -ber by suitable conduits shownin Fig. 1.

The ioors of Aboth the chambers A and. B are preferably supported on longitudinally extending piers 82, these piers in the combustion chamber being provided with a plurality of lateral passagesr 84 through which the products of combustion may pass upwardly between the chamber. and furnace walls. The space between these walls is formedvinto lower and upper communica ing passes 86 and 88 respectively by means of a longitudinally extending body 90. The products of combustion formed in the combustion chamber pass through the lateral passages 84 and into the lower` pass 86 and flow toward the discharge' end of the chamber B asindicated by arrows in Fig. 1 and from thence flow through the vcommunicating passage at the endof the body-90 and back toward-the entrance end of the chamber fromy whence they flow downwardly under the foot of th;-

partition Wall 7 2 by way of a passageA 92 and i i thence iow forwardly-between the longitudivnally extending piers 82under the floor of -the chamber A. .Traversing the length of flow forwardly and out to the atmosphere.'

through passages which communicate uniform annealing temperatu'e'fn thefu'iw' nace. 'Y

The coolmg chamber (i as previously 1111-" with the last named pass. These .passages 100 lead into a'stack 101 as shown diagrammatically in Figs. 1 and 2. y

It Will now be seen that the products of combustion generated in the combustion chamber below the floor of the heating chamber B pass through the lateral ports 84 formed in the piers below the floor, thence into a lower pass 86 in which they How. rear- \vardly,and afternegotiating this pass they flow vforwardly along the 'upper pass and then downwardly into the space belon1 the Hoor of the heating chamber A from 'which after having traversed the `length of the floor space they pass upwardlyinto a lower pass 96 and flow rearwardly. after lWhich they low upwardly and thenforwardlyfrom an upper pass 99 and finally out to the atmos- 1 v Wall, yan-"upright Work-.entering passage 1n phere or stack from the passzlges'100.v

Thismanner of conductinglthe gases vfrom the vfurnace .permits the extraction 'fof l'the maximum, amount- 'of -heat from ithfe gases and hyreason of thefact that the Wallsvand the Hoor .of the heatingichambersA are'lnfade dicated is out off from the" dow ofthe comhustiomproducts by the partition tvalif'id. By reason of the fact that hoth ends ofthe .annealing furnace are e'e'ctuaily sealed there is no tendency for convection currents to he set` 'up Within the furnace and consequently no heat will he carried Vto the' cooling chain r it being remembered that the chute 46 has or in the cooiing chamber thnstproviding r air seal. While no independent means are shown for effecting the reduction ottempera ture in the cooling chamher itis vWithin the spirit of the invention to providelany suitahle means for this purpose it vvili be further appreciated that the conL veyer system is relatively simple' and, that very little heat will he absorbed hv such parte the conveyor system asentend into the fornace. This arrangement vis ,therefore con dncive to material saving of heat.

While'. theA invention has been descriioed 'with consideraiole partieularity of detail it is 'to he distinctly understood that noliinits e. c of relatively thin materaLtheheat absorhed from the gases by the walls andfoo'rs givesl -`videdf .vvith an overhead conveyeriadapted its discharge end helow the level of the are intended except as may be defined by the appended claims. Vllat is claimed is:

1. lfn combination, a furnace provided with a lateral passage at one end thereof, a Work holder adapted to extend into the furnace through said passage, carriers eX- tending from'below the roof of the furnace, means for moving said carriers'through the furnace, and .means on said carriers adapted to pick up the work supported by said work holder.

2. lln combination, a furnace, carriers eX- tending from below the roof of the furnace and movable therethrough from one end to the other, Work-supporting means at one -endof the furnace adapted to support the vwork Vin the path ofthe moving carriers,

means on said carriers for picking up the Work disposed in the path thereof, and a chute at the discharge end of the furnace l through which the work may pass-out 'of the :furnace said chute haviiio its dischar e end below the level of the.' furnace door.

V3. lAn .annealing furnace having .an end Wall shutting off direct access thereto and provided with a vertical slot in its-upper- ,port-ion, the roof ofthe furnace being provided Witha slot .alined with that in said thefurnaoe side, an'endless conveyor dis- -Ipo's'edl'above 'the furnace roof, and carriers "dep endinggfrom the conveyor and .adapted to'l'exitr ther furnace through said slots and np the Work introducedinto the furitrough the Work-entering passage.

1 ecombination with a furnace pro- .""toiconvey-ewire coils in suspended position through the furnace, of means for' loadingA the coilsv on-the conveyor comprising coil- 1 carrying means movaloie throng-h the-side of ring relation to the conveyor. y .5.Th'e combination 'with a furnace provided with an overhead conveyerladapted to the furnace .and disposable in c'oil-tranenfer- `convey Wire coils. in suspended. position.

through ythe '-urnace, of means for loading the coils on the conveyor comprising coilcarrying means movahie laterally with respoot to the conveyor and disposable in coiltransferring relation to th, eonveyer,

6. The combination with lil@ the'` coils on the conveyer comprising covl- `'carrying means, projectable toward the con- '.yeyer from a. coil-receiving position anddspossible in coil-transferring relatlon to the mnveyer- In 4a furnace for annealing Y15`vire. in cells, the comblnatlon Wlth 4an end-less conlveyer operable through the furnace roof and oni-Which conveyer the coils m'ay be' indi- `Viduelly suspendedv While .bem carried "f throughthe furnace, of a restrict palesage- Wa'y' at the front of sage of the conve er elements whlch enterthe furnace',` the ront end of the furnace t l5.

being otherwise substantiallyclosed from and anupright-charg- In testimony whereox` I ax FoRREsr W. MANKER,

my signature.-

the furnace' for the pas-` 

